THE provincial government of Negros Occidental is in no hurry to declare that there are cases of African swine fever (ASF) in the province, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Wednesday.

“We have a lot of healthy pigs around, that’s why let’s not be quick in declaring an ASF [situation]. We should be compassionate with our hog raisers,” Lacson also said.

He made the statement after a laboratory test result from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that a hog from Barangay Mabini, Pulupandan tested positive for ASF.

The governor said only one of the four samples was positive for ASF.

He, however, added that the provincial government has not received yet an official report from DA-BAI.

“The province is already taking measures. We have been following the BAI protocols,” Lacson pointed out.

He said the concerned barangay (village) will be isolated.

“The 500-meter radius will be imposed and for 15 days we will observe,” the governor added.

“If there is no repeat of such an incident, then we can say it was isolated but if there is, then we will continue to proceed with the BAI’s protocol of seven-kilometer and ten-kilometer radius,” he said.

“As we have been explaining, the provincial government has already passed protocols to address the worst-case scenario. That is now the status as far as the province is concerned,” Lacson added.

Negros Occidental, which has a P6-billion hog industry, has been banning the entry of live pigs and pork products from Luzon, Mindanao and most of the provinces in the Visayas, including neighboring Negros

Oriental, Cebu and Iloilo, which all have confirmed cases of ASF.

As of May 30, the province had recorded 7,229 swine deaths from hog cholera and other diseases across 14 local government units, equivalent to losses of more than P93 million, based on a report of the Provincial Veterinary Office.

Lacson said right now the province is still receiving orders from other areas and that there are still cargo ships receiving Negros Occidental products, although there is a decline in orders.

Earlier, Rayfrando Diaz, provincial administrator, said the detection of ASF in Bacolod City hogs has affected the shipment of pigs from Negros Occidental to other parts of the country.

“There are reports that some people are lobbying against the loading of pigs from Negros Occidental on vessels for shipment to other areas. But let me remind them that there has been no official laboratory findings on the presence of ASF in Negros Occidental, so far,” he also said.

Diaz added that the provincial government’s Incident Management Team is continuing to conduct surveillance, testing, containment and disposal of pigs that die from different hog illnesses.

In Bacolod City, 12 sick pigs died in Purok Paghidaet, Barangay Tangub, while 23 others were culled on Wednesday.

Village chief Noli Villarosa said the 35 affected pigs belonged to two hog raisers.

They were hesitant about having their 23 other pigs that were still healthy killed, he added.

They agreed to the culling of the pigs by electrocution after the barangay government offered to pay P3,000 for each pig, Villarosa said.

Lime was placed to prevent any stench and the places where the pigs were kept were disinfected, he added.